Nanoxia DX12

The German firm Nanoxia is frequently represented in our fan roundups. This time around, I’ve got as many as three fans from Nanoxia: DX12-600, DX12-900, and DX12-1200. The fans are sealed in plastic blister wraps with cardboard bottoms. You can read the detailed specifications of each fan on the back of its package.

Four soft silicone pins, 70 millimeters long, are included with each of these fans:

I must confess it is much easier to install a fan using such long pins as opposed to the short ones included with other fan models. These fans are manufactured in China and have a recommended price of $11.90. The warranty period is as long as 10 years.

The new products do not differ much externally from Nanoxia’s FX12 and FX+12 we tested in our previous review of 120mm fans except that the plastic frame is now black rather than translucent.

The acid-green impeller has retained the same shape and substance (it is Makrolon, a high-quality water-resistant material). The impeller is 111 millimeters in diameter. Three of the fan spokes are 5 millimeters wide; the cable spoke is 8 millimeters wide. The rotor is 40 millimeters in diameter.

The “nanotechnology bearings from nonabrasive materials” are still ready to keep the fan up and running for 10 years whereas the ECO motor ensures a long service life and low power consumption.

So what’s the difference between the DX12 and FX12 series? The DX12 fans are less expensive. They come in simpler packaging and without a fan speed controller. They do not support PWM-based speed management, either. The good news is that they are about 30% cheaper than their FX12 series counterparts. The newer series includes three models with rotation speeds of 600, 900 and 1200 RPM, air flow of 25.9, 34.7 and 46.2 CFM, static pressure of 0.41, 0.73 and 0.91 millimeters of water, and a noise level of 10, 13.5 and 20.5 dBA, respectively. The 3-wire sleeved cable of each model is 400 millimeters long.

According to my measurements, the start-up voltage of these fans was 6.2, 4.3 and 4 volts and their power consumption was 0.34, 0.71 and 1.58 watts for the DX12-600, -900 and -1200, respectively. Now let’s see how they did in my air flow and noise tests:

Cutting it short, the Nanoxia DX12 series fans are among the best in this test session (they are in the top four, to be exact). The junior model is completely inaudible at 30.2 dBA, working at a max speed of 700 RPM (compare this to the Cooler Master fan’s 32 dBA at 720 RPM). The midrange DX12-900 model is immaculately quiet even at its maximum 1000 RPM while the senior DX12-1200 is comfortable up to 1150 RPM. I can only add that there are only three more fan models from other brands in this review that can match these results.